Olympic champion Christian Kukuk is bringing a Bayern Munich flair to the jumping arena.
The 34-year-old recently revealed that his horse Checker 47 is part-owned by Bayern attacker Thomas Müller, with the two becoming close friends and confidants in recent years.
Whenever Kukuk, who stormed to individual jumping gold for Germany at Paris 2024, rings up his footballing counterpart, the two often trade stories of success and disappointment.
And it’s an unlikely friendship that Kukuk admitted that he is still in awe of, having once dreamed of becoming a professional footballer himself.
“When I was younger I thought it was cool to be a football player,” he said.
“But I realised around the age of 15 that my passion was horses so that’s why in the end I stopped with football and focussed on the riding.
“I’m a big fan of Bayern Munich and Thomas Muller, he’s one of my horse owners which is very interesting and cool.
“He is very unique and he’s such a special guy.
“He’s my age and has played football on the highest level since he was about 17.
“But he’s a sports athlete which makes it so special because when I talk to him he completely understands what it means to be in sport.
“We have disappointed moments and celebratory moments but it’s all about emotions and he knows exactly how you feel.”
With one of his footballing icons on his side, Kukuk has seen a summer of success in 2024.
Just 12 days after winning a maiden Olympic title at the Palace of Versailles, Kukuk was riding in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea as part of the Longines Global Champions Tour.
Kukuk jumped a double clear on horse Just Be Gentle to clinch second place behind home hero Harry Charles of Great Britain in the Grand Prix, clocking a time of 36.92 to reach the podium.
And with just another top level competitive performance in the bank, the Olympic champion graciously admitted that you can’t always be the victor.
“I can’t win them all,” he said. “I got the feeling for a while that it might happen again today but then Harry absolutely deserved it and I’m happy for him in front of his home crowd here.
“This was absolutely no problem for me, I’m very happy and pleased with my second place and this is definitely something to celebrate for me.”
LONGINES Global Champions Tour. Unique and iconic locations in dynamic capital cities and breathtaking Riviera destinations. The best riders guaranteeing high octane top sport for fans at every event. Precision, power, and elegance combined in one spectacular championship series. For more information visit www.gcglobalchampions.com
